Nail distributors



Sept. 21, 1965 A. J. GILBRIDE ETAL 3,207,362

NAIL DISTRIBUTORS Filed April 29, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet l In uenfors Andrew I Gi/brioe Robert]? Gar/121' 5y theirAzzorlzey P 1965 A. J. GILBRIDE ETAL 3,207,362

NAIL DISTRIBUTORS Filed April 29, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 P 1965 A. J. GILBRIDE ETAL 3,207,362

NAIL DISTRIBUTORS Filed April 29, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 rlllilh ZIIIIIIIII Sept. 21, 1965 A. J. GILBRIDE ETAL 3,207,362

NAIL DISTRIBUTORS Filed April 29, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,207,362 NAIL DISTRIBUTORS Andrew J. Gilbride, Swampscott, and Robert F. Gorinl, Beverly, Mass., assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Apr. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 276,361 7 Claims. (Cl. 221-93) This invention relates to improvements in a nail distributor of the type disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 254,297, filed January 28, 1963, in the names of Fred T. MacKenzie et al., it being an object of the invention to reduce to a minimum the occurrence of nail jams between the lower ends of raceways and a separator plate of the distributor.

The illustrative distributor comprises a fixed ramp having one or more raceway-s down which nails hanging 'by their heads slide, a separator plate having an upper edge and one or more slots which extend through said plate and to said edge, a fixed member having one or more grooves, said separator plate being movable between a nail receiving position in which the one or more slots of the separator plate are in register with the lower ends of said one or more raceways respectively whereby to receive lowermost nails in the raceways from said raceways with the heads of the nails resting upon the upper edge of the separator plate, and a nail delivering position in which the one or more slots of the separator plate are arranged respectively opposite the one or more grooves of said member and are adapted to deliver said nails to the grooves, and in accordance with a feature of the invention, novel cam means for the nails is provided so spaced from the separator plate at the separation side of the forward end portion of each of the raceways as to permit free swinging movement of the associated separated nail in said plate and the lowermost nail remaining in the associated raceway about theirrespective heads whereby to disengage, if necessary, the shank portions of the nails from each other during movement of the separator to its nail delivering position.

The present invention consists in the above and hereinafter described features, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration, said invention being fully disclosed in the following description and claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view, partly broken away and partly in section, of a lower portion of an illustrative nail distributor;

FIG. 2 is a section of the nail distributor on the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view, partly broken away and partly in section, showing in perspective details of a ramp, a separator plate and front plate of the nail distributor;

FIG. 4 shows in perspective a portion of a lower end of a ramp of a prior distributor of the type disclosed in said application Serial No. 254,297;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing on an enlarged scale the separator plate of the illustrative machine; and

FIGS. 6 to 9 inclusive are perspective views taken on the line VI-VI of FIG. 1 and illustrating four different displaced nail conditions which, if the ramp shown in FIG. 4 is used, are likely to result in nail jams between the ramp and the separator plate of the distributor but which are usually corrected by the use of the present ramp shown in FIG. 3.

The illustrative nail distributor comprises a ramp or composite block 20 having an interrupted flat inclined upper surface 22 and slots or channels 24 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) which extend into said face and form with the face a plurality of parallel raceways which are inclined at a substantial angle to the horizontal and into the upper ends of which cut nails 28 having heads 28a are fed, for example, from a nail pot (200) such as disclosed for example in United States Letters Patent No. 2,178,615, granted November 7, 1939, on an application filed 1n the names of John I. Standish et al., or from tilt pot hoppers such as disclosed respectively in said application Serial No. 254,297 and in United States Letters Patent No. 3,072,913, granted January 15, 1963, on an application filed in the names of Paul E. Morgan, et al. The ramp 20 comprises a base 201: which is secured by'screws 30 (FIG. 2) to a main frame 32 of the distributor and has formed on it a plurality of opposed faces 24a (FIGS. 2 and 3) constituting lower portions of the slots 24, said base portion having secured to it by screws 34 (FIG. 1) a plurality of bars 36 having opposed faces 24b spaced from each other and forming upper portions of the slots 24, said upper and lower portions of the slots being of the same width and in alinement with each other.

The slots 24 of the raceways 26 are somewhat wider than the upper ends of the shanks 28b of the nails 28 to be accommodated, said nails hanging by their heads 28a on the flat upper face 22 of the ramp or composite block 20, which upper face constitutes the upper faces of the bars 36, and being adapted to slide by gravity down the raceways 26, the lowermost nails in the raceways being removed simultaneously from the lower or exit ends of said raceways and being transferred by mechanism hereinafter described to tubes 40 (FIGS. 1 and 2) for delivery to nail driving mechanisms (not shown) of the machine.

The base 20a and the bars 36of the ramp or composite block 20 have flat forward or front faces 42, 44 respectively which are in alinement with each other, said faces being arranged in a common planedisposed at right angles to the upper face 22 of the ramp which is disposed at approximately 30 to the horizontal. The angle formed between the upper face 22 and the front face 44 of the ramp 20 may be somewhat more than 90.

Secured to forward laterally projecting portions of the main frame 32 of the distributor are upstanding screws 46 (FIG. 1) and mounted on said portions of the main frame is a front plate 48 having formed in it notches 50 through which the respective screws pass. Nuts 52, on which are mounted hand wrenches 5'4, serve to secure to the main frame 32 the front plate 48 in its proper operating position determined by the initial settings of screws 56 secured to the front plate and normally in engagement with faces 58 of the main frame. The front plate 48 has a planar rear face 60 which is normally spaced from the front faces 42, 44 of the base 20a and the bars 36 of the ramp or composite block 20 to form a guideway 62 and has formed in it a plurality of upstanding grooves or channel-s 64 offset laterally from associated lower or exit ends of the raceways 26.

Secured by screws 66 (FIG. 2) to the base 20a of the ramp 20 are a pair of gibs 68 provided with rabbets, forming with rabbets in the base of the ramp, guideways 70 for slidingly receiving flange portions 72 of a separator plate 74 fitting in the guideway 62 formed between the .rear face 60-of the front plate 48 and the faces 42, 44 of the base 20a and the bars 36 of the ramp 20. Secured by screws 75 (FIG. 1) -to the left end of the "base 20a of the ramp,.as viewed from the front of the machine, is an L-shaped guide bracket 76 (FIGS. 1 and3) which forms with the front face 42 of said base 20a a guideway 78 along which the separator plate 74 moves, this guideway serving mainly to retain the separator plate in its upright operating position when the front plate 48 is removed from the distributor.

Patented Sept. 21, 1965 v Extending through the separator plate 74 between its opposite sides or front and rear faces are a plurality of vertical slots 80 which terminate at an upper edge 82 of the plate and are adapted to receive the lowermost nails in the raceways 26 from said raceways with the heads of these nails overlying the upper edge of the separator plate. The rear face of the separator plate 74 along a trailing edge face of each of its slots 80 (the term trailing being used with relation to movement of the separator plate from its nail receiving to its nail delivering position) is slabbed off to provide a beveled surface or cam 84 which extends nearly to the bottom of the slot and terminates at a point just below the upper edge 82 of the separator plate as best shown in FIG. 5. The purpose of the bevel surface or cam 84 will appear later.

Pivotally connected to the right end of the separator plate 74, as viewed from the front of the machine is a link 85 (FIG. 1) operatively connected to mechanism which is described in said application Serial No. 254,297 and is adapted to move said plate along the associated guideways 62, 70 between a nail receiving position in which the slots 80 are in register with the lower or exit ends of the raceways 26 and a nail delivering or dumping position in which the slots are in register with the grooves or channels 64 of the front plate 48.

Arranged beneath the grooves 64 of the front plate 48 are bores 86 (FIGS. 1 and 2) formed in an inverting bar 88 which is journaled at its opposite ends in bearings 90 (FIG. 2) mounted in lugs 92 secured to the main frame 32. As explained in application Serial No. 254,297, the inverting bar 88 is operated in time relation with the separator plate 74 and is adapted to deliver the nails which have been dropped into and are hanging by their heads in the bores 86 of the bar, to the tubes 40 through which the nails are delivered to a nailing die of the machine disclosed in application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 256,885, filed February 7, 1963, in the name of Fred T. MacKenZie et al. Instead of dropping the nails from the grooves 64 of the front plate 84 into the bores 86 of the inverting bar 88 the nails may be dropped into funnel-shaped openings (484) which are formed in a fixed block (470) and are connected to tubes (197) as disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 3,072,913 or may be dropped into openings (290) which are formed in a fixed supporting member (270) and register with passages of tubes 296 as disclosed in patent No. 2,178,615. As above explained, nail distributors of this general type are well known and are used in various types of heel attaching machines.

The separator plates of the various types of distributors referred to herein are moved between their nail receiving and their nail delivering positions respectively in time relation with other operating parts of the distributors by mechanism well known in the art. Accordingly it is not necessary in the present application to describe in detail the mechanism for operating the separator plate 74. The nails 28 may be delivered to the upper ends of the raceways 26 by different types of hoppers or nail pots well known in the art.

In prior nail distributors (FIG. 4) of the type under consideration opposite side walls of slots 224 of a ramp or composite block 220 of the distributor, which slots are of the same width as the slots 24, terminate at the flat forward or front faces 242, 244 of a base 220a and bars 236, respectively, of the ramp to form right and left edges 221, 223 which extend heightwise along the full depth of the slots 224. In the present construction shown in FIG. 3 however as will be explained in detail later, the

left wall (as viewed from the front of the machine) of each of the slots 24 intersects the front faces 44, 42 to form an edge 94 identical with the left edge 223 of the ramp 220 (FIG. 4) and the right wall of each of the slots 24 intersects the front wall 44 of the associated bar 36 to form an edge 96 which extends only a slight distance downwardly from the flat upper face 22 of the ramp 20 by reason of the fact that ramp edges formed by the right side wall of each of the slots 24 on the one hand and the front faces 42, 44 of the ramp on the other hand are slabbed off to form a cam or surface 98 which will be hereinafter referred to.

It will be noted that the width of the slot 224 of the conventional ramp 220 shown in FIG. 4 is somewhat greater than the thickness of the upper part of the shank 28b of the nail 28 and accordingly a short lowermost nail hanging by its head on the ramp 220 has a substantial degree of lateral tilting movement in the slot 224. It will be apparent, however, that if the nail is long only a small amount of lateral tilting movement of the nail in the slot 224 is possible because of the engagement of the lower end of said long nail with the parallel side walls of the slot.

In nail distributors which are of the general type herein disclosed and have ramps 20 (FIG. 3) it frequently happens that the shank end of a lowermost nail in one of the raceways 26 is tilted forward into an associated slot in the separator plate 74 behind (FIG. 6) (with relation to the nail delivering movement of the separator plate) or in front of the shank of a nail which has been transferred to said slot and is hanging by its head on said plate. It also frequently happens that the shank of the nail, which has been transferred to the slot 80 of the separator plate 74 and is hanging by its head on the upper edge of the separator plate, is tilted backward into the lower end of the slot 24 of the associated raceway 26 in back of (FIG. 7) or in front of the lowermost nail in the raceway. Furthermore, the shanks of the associated lowermost nail in the raceway 26 and the nail in the separator plate 74 cross each other, the shank of the nail in the separator plate sometimes being in front of the nail in the raceway, as shown in FIG. 8, and sometimes behind such nail, as shown in FIG. 9. The above conditions, as well as other conditions not mentioned, are caused partly by the pressure interaction of the heads of the cut nails with one another.

When the nail distributor is provided with the ramp 220 (FIG. 4) and one of the above-mentioned nail displaced conditions exist, a jam is likely to occur between the ramp and a separator plate (similar to the separator plate 74) of the machine as said plate moves from its nail receiving to its nail delivering position.

With the above considerations in view, the left forward edge of each of the bars 36 of the ramp 20 has been cut away to form a cam or cam surface portion 98a and the forward left edge of the base 20a of the ramp have been cut away to form a cam or cam surface portion 98b which is continuous with the face portion 98a and forms therewith the above-mentioned surface or cam 98. The upper end of the cam 98 terminates at the edge 96 of the asso 'ciated bar 36 at a point spaced slightly from the flat nail head supporting upper face 22 of the ramp, horizontal elements of the cam being disposed at between 30 and 45, for example, to the front faces 42, 44 of the base and the associated bar of the ramp.

It will be noted that the cam 98, a rear edge of which terminates along an adjacent side wall of associated raceway slot 24 at a substantial distance rearwardly of the forward or exit end of the raceway, forms with the separator plate 74 a space or cavity 100 at a separation side of the forward portion of the raceway, said cam and accordingly the cavity being spaced from the inclined nail supporting face 22 of the ramp 20 and being arranged opposite the path of movement of the associated slot 80 of the separator plate 82.

When the nails 28 are in their positions illustrated in FIG. 6 and the separator plate 74 moves from its nail receiving t its nail delivering position, the lowermost nail in the raceway 26 will swing about its head into the cavity- 100 as its lower shank portion moves with the separator plate 72, and after being cammed out of the slot 80 by' reason of such motion, the shank portion. Q Said lower-- most nail in the raceway will swing back through the cavity to its vertical position in the raceway. In order further to insure that when the nails are. arranged as shown in FIG. 6, the shank of the lowermostnail in the raceway 26 shall be returned fully to the raceway and not interfere with the nail delivering movement of the separator plate 74, said plate is provided with the abovementioned beveled face or cam 84 which during said movement of the plate cams the shankportion of the lowermost nail in the raceway back into the raceway.

When the lower end of the nail 28 carried by the separator plate 74 is tilted back into the raceway 26 behind the lowermost nail in the associated raceway, as shown in FIG. 7, and the separator plate moves from its nail receiving to its nail delivering position, the lower shank ends of the nails will swing into the'cavity 100 and the lower end of the nail on the separator plate will be cammed back into its associated slot of the separator plate by its camming action against the lowermost nail in the raceway. The nail in the separator plate 74 is commonly released from the nail in the raceway 26 before the nails reach the cam face 98, but if for any reason the lower end of the nail on the separator plate has not returned to its associated slot 80, such nail will engage the cam face 98, causing the lower end of said nail to be cammed back into said slot.

When the shanks of the lowermost nail in the raceway 26 and the associated nail on the separator plate 74 are crossed over each other, as shown in FIG. 8, nail transferring movement of the separator plate will cause the cam 84 to move the shank of the lowermost nail in the raceway back fully into the raceway and the cam 98 will be engaged by the lower end of the nail on the separator plate to cause this nail t be moved fully forwardly into the slot of the separator plate before said plate reaches its nail delivering position.

When the shanks of the lowermost nail in the raceway 26 and the nail in the associated slot 80 of the separator plate 74 cross each .other but said lowermost nail in the raceway is in front of the nail on the separator plate as shown in FIG. 9, it has been found that if the nails are not too long they will cam each other back to their proper positions during movement of the separator plate to its nail delivering position, the engagement of the cam 84 with the shank of the nail on the lower end of the raceway and the engagement of the shank of the nail on the separator plate with the cam 98 further insuring, if the nails have been swung around each other by their eamming action upon each other, that these nails are moved to their desired positions and out of their jam causing relation.

It will be noted at this point that the machine illustrated herein will effectively handle headed out nails of short to medium lengths, that is, from four-eighths in length to nine-eighths in length, the distributor being relatively free from jams as compared to distributors which have a ramp 220 such as is illustrated in FIG. 4.

The ramp 20 may be described as having a cam or surface 98 which is adapted to be engaged by the end of the shank of the nail in the separator plate 74 as said plate moves from its na'il receiving to its nail delivering position, in the event that said shank at this time is tilted rearwardly out .of the slot 80 of said plate, whereby to swing the shank of the nail back into the slot. The cam or surface 98 may also be described as having a height approximately that of the raceway 26 and having an upper end terminating at a forward separation edge of the raceway at a point spaced slightly from the nail supporting face 22 of the ramp, the rear end of the cam terminating at the separation side wall of the raceway along a line spaced a substantial distance from the forward end of the raceway and the forward end of said cam terminating at the forward end of the ramp opposite the groove 64 in the front plate 84. 4

The ramp 20 may be described as having formed in it an undercut cavity 100, which is arranged at a separation side of the exit portion of the raceway 26 of the ramp and is spaced from the inclined face 22 of the ramp, and may also be described as having at its forward end a cavity which is defined by an undercut cam orsurface 98 extending forwardly and laterally from the separation side of the raceway 26 at a location spaced from the forward end of the raceway and arranged opposite the path of movement of the slot of the separator plate 74, said cavity being adapted to allow the shank of the lowermost nail in the raceway to swing about its head in the direction of movement of the separator plate 74 in the event that the shank of this nail extends into the slot 80 of the separator plate or the shank of the nail in the separator plate is swung across and behind the shank of said lowermost nail in the raceway whereby to allow the nails to cam themselves back to their normal positions in the raceway and in the slot respectively during movement of the separator plate to its nail delivering position.

The front face 42, 44 of the ramp 20 may be described as having formed in it an undercut cavity 100 which opens into a portion of the raceway spaced from the inclined face 22 of the raceway and which is arranged opposite the path of movement of the slot 80 of the separator plate, said cavity being adapted to allow the shank portion of the lowermost nail in the raceway, which shank portion may be displaced so as to lie in the slot 80 of the separator plate 74, to move with the slot as the separator plate is moved to its nail delivering position whereby to allow the lowermost nail in the raceway to free itself from the slot and from the shank portion of the nail being transferred in the separator plate during movement of said plate.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a nail distributor the combination of a .ramp including an inclined raceway on which a supply of nails including a first nail and a second nail is intended to be received suspended by their heads as they slide downwardly and forwardly, a fixed member spaced from the raceway and formed with a groove, a separator plate interposed between the ramp and the fixed member and having an upper edge formed with a slot extending to the edge and through the thickness of the plate, movable from a nail receiving station in which the slot is in register with the lower end portion of the raceway to receive the first nail from the raceway with the head of the first nail resting upon the upper edge of the plate to a nail delivering station in which the slot is aligned with the groove in the fixed member to deliver the first nail to the groove and means including an angularly oriented surface formed in the forward face of the ramp for engagement by the shank of the first nail in the separator plate as the plate moves toward the delivering station to orient the shank of the nail in the slot within the thickness of the plate.

2. A nail distributor according to claim 1 further characterized in that the angularly oriented surface is spaced below the raceway in the forward face of the ramp.

3. A nail distributor according to claim 1 further characterized in that the separator plate is also formed with 'a cam surface adjacent the slot, engageable by the shank of the second nail to repel the second nail completely into the raceway as the plate moves from the receiving station to the delivering station.

4. In a nail distributor the combination of a ramp including a set of inclined raceways on each of which a supply of nails including a first nail and a second nail is intended to be received suspended by their heads as they slide downwardly and forwardly, a fixed member spaced from the raceway and formed with a set of grooves, a separator plate interposed between the ramp and the fixed member and having an upper edge formed with a set of slots extending to the edge and through the 7 thickness of the plate, movable from a nail receiving station in which each slot is in register with the lower end portion of one of the raceways to (receive the first nail from the raceway with the head of the first nail resting upon the upper edge of the plate to a nail delivering station in which each slotis aligned with one of the grooves in the fixed member to deliver the first nail to the groove and means including an angularly oriented surface conresponding to each slot formed in the forward face of the ramp for engagement by the shank of the first nail in the separator plate as the plate moves toward the delivering station to orient the shank of the nail in the slot within the thickness of the plate.

5. A nail distributor according to claim 4 further characterized in that the angularly oriented surfaces are spaced below the raceways in the forward face of the ramp.

6. A nail distributor according to claim 4 further characterized in that the separator plate is also formed with a cam surface adjacent each slot, engageable by the shank of the second nail to repel the second nail completely into the (raceway as the plate moves from the receiving station to the delivering station.

7. In a nail distributor the combination of a ramp including an inclined raceway on which a supply of nails including a first nail and a second nail is intended to be received suspended by their heads as they slide downwardly and forwardly, a fixed member spaced from the raceway and formed with a groove, a separator plate interposed between the ramp and the fixed member and having an upper edge formed with a slot extending to the edge and through the thickness of the plate, movable from a nail receiving station in which the slot is in register with the lower end portion of the raceway to [receive the first nail from the raceway with the head of the first nail resting upon the upper edge of the plate to a nail delivering station in which the slot is aligned with the groove in the fixed member to deliver the first nail to the groove and means including an angula'rly oriented surface formed in the separator plate adjacent the slot and engageable by the shank of the second nail as the plate moves toward the delivering station to repel the second nail completely into the raceway.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,178,615 11/39 Standish et a1. 1-335 2,982,965 5/.61 Willhauck l-6.3

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A NAIL DISTRIBUTOR THE COMBINATION OF A RAMP INCLUDING AN INCLINED RACEWAY ON WHICH A SUPPLY OF NAILS INCLUDING A FIRST NAIL AND A SECOND NAIL IS INTENDED TO BE RECEIVED SUSPENDED BY THEIR HEADS AS THEY SLIDE DOWNWARDLY AND FORWARDLY, A FIXED MEMBER SPACED FROM THE RACEWAY AND FORMED WITH A GROOVE, A SEPARATOR PLATE INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE RAMP AND THE FIXED MEMBER AND HAVING AN UPPER EDGE FORMED WITH A SLOT EXTENDING TO THE EDGE AND THROUGH THE THICKNESS OF THE PLATE, MOVABLE FROM A NAIL RECEIVING STATION IN WHICH THE SLOT IS IN REGISTER WITH THE LOWER END PORTION OF THR RACEWAY TO RECEIVE THE FIRST NAIL FROM THE RACEWAY WITH THE HEAD OF THE FIRST NAIL RESTING UPON THE UPPER EDGE OF THE PLATE TO A NAIL DELIVERING STATION IN WHICH THE SLOT IS ALIGNED WITH THE GROOVE IN THE FIXED MEMBER TO DELIVER THE FIRST NAIL TO THE GROOVE AND MEANS INCLUDING AN ANGULARLY ORIENTED SURFACE FORMED IN THE FORWARD FACE OF THE RAMP FOR ENGAGEMENT BY THE SHANK OF THE FIRST NAIL IN THE SEPARATOR PLATE AS THE PLATE MOVES TOWARD THE DELIVERING STATION TO ORIENT THE SHANK OF THE NAIL IN THE SLOT WITHIN THE THICKNESS OF THE PLATE. 